oil on plywood
1946
vpravo dole
32 × 42 cm
frame
Starting price: 1,300,000 CZK Final price: 3,120,000 CZK
Auction 84th, Lot 197 This excellent work - rarely appearing on the market - falls within the author's important, albeit difficult period shortly after World War II. At the beginning of the war years the artist's work, as well as that of many of his contemporaries, was suppressedand their work described as "perverted" or "degenerate" art. František Muzika therefore resorted mainly to screenwriting, which offered him a livelihood and a certain type of artistic fullfilment. During the war, despite the ban, he decided to return to autonomous workand to capture the indescribable absurdity of the time through imaginative art, which provided him with the best opportunities to depicthis inner feelings. He continued in his pre-war tendencies and developed his personal idea of lyrical Cubism represented by a dynamic relationship between intersecting lines and surfaces. The scenes are dominated by strange crooked figures, which are deprived of any contact with reality and are placed in empty, unspecified spaces. A female figure in expressive colours, with playfully intertwining organic shapes reminiscent of möbius tape, is defined by an elegant fine line that supports the fragility of the whole scene, which feels like a mere illusion. The high value of the work from a collector's point of view is further enhanced by its origin from the important collection of Dr. J. Borovička, as evidenced by the inscription on the back of the painting. Assesed during consultations by PhDr. R. Michalová, Ph.D., and prof. J. Zemina. From the attached expertise by PhDr. K. Srp: "[…] The painting is a clear statement about the author's inner world after the end of World War II: the closedness of the shape is reflected in the surrounding, empty environment. It brings Muzika to the brink of "soft" surrealism, emphasizing above all the imaginative values contained in the forms themselves. […]" .